Interview

Douglas Wilson

Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm Douglas Wilson, an Assistant Professor ("Lecturer") at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. I teach and research game design. I also co-own a small video game studio, Die Gute Fabrik, based in Copenhagen. We're known for games like Sportsfriends and Where Is My Heart. I do design, team management, and some programming.

What hardware do you use?

Mostly just my MacBook Pro! I don't even use an external keyboard or dual monitors or anything, it's pretty basic. When I was working on Sportsfriends, I also used a PS3/PS4 devkit. I also use video game controllers like PlayStation Move controllers, Xbox 360 pads, and so forth. My installation games like Edgar Rice Soirée often call for basic materials like string and rope.

And what software?

Despite using a MacBook Pro, I still primarily run Windows. Winamp is the most important piece of software on my computer (I'm a big music nut).

For academic work, I use Word for writing (e.g. my book, conference papers) though it's kind of awful and I'd like to find some more serious writing software.

For game making, I've been using Unity the last few years, mostly because I like working in C#. Unity also makes it easier for me to collaborate closely with my musician, Alessandro Coronas. We're working on a procedural music system together.

Because my collaborators are scattered around the world, I do a lot of voice and video calls. I primarily use Skype, but I loathe it deeply. I also use Slack and Google Docs. I do have some anxieties about using so many products by large corporations, storing my data on their servers, etc. Perhaps I should get more serious about using software/server alternatives...

What would be your dream setup?

Mostly, I wish there was better options for voice/video calling software. Slack is starting to integrate that kind of functionality, which would be quite convenient, but those features aren't quite there. But if I can let my imagination run wild I wish I had a teleporter so I could work with my collaborators in person whenever I wanted. Remote collaboration is hard!